What's For Lunch Houston - 2018

Different restaurants do it different ways. Here the only choice I had was what bread - dosa, puri or paratha. I didn’t know what kind of dosa I was going to get.

At Shiv Sagar, in the strip center with Himalaya, there’s no choice, it’s whatever they’ve put together that day. I don’t remember having a choice of anything there.

At Maharajah Bhog, out near me on 59/69 @ Gessner, it’s a fixed menu but all you can eat. It’s Indian style service which means the servers come around and serve you out of stainless steel buckets!! You can refuse anything you don’t want and ask for refills on anything you want more of. There’s a lot of food on the tray - 4 vegetable curries, 3 dals, 2 sweets, 2 apps, 2 pickles, 2 chutneys, 2 salads and unlimited rotis. That’s for lunch; in the evening and on weekends, there’s 3 of the things you only get 2 of at lunch.

At Udipi Cafe on Hillcroft, it’s a self serve buffet and you get a choice of freshly made dosa and beverage. They offer a choice of using a thali (tray) or Western-style plates. You can get a lot more on a tray :yum:.

Bhojan (Gujarati), last time I went was also a buffet, as are Shahnai and Haveli and Mezban (Pakistani).

Vishala (Gujarati), out on Hwy 6, is self-serve, thali, all you can eat.

Shri Balaji Bhavan is vegetarian, Udipi cuisine. Shiv Sagar is vegetarian, offering dishes from several Indian vegetarian cuisines. Maharajah Bhog is Gujarati/Rajasthani - both vegetarian cuisines.

Govinda’s - at the Hare Krishna Temple on 34th - which I haven’t been to yet - is strictly vegetarian; when they first opened people were making a big deal out of the fact they had pasta dishes and some other non-Indian fare. The pictures looks like a big cafeteria line.

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:open_mouth:

I went to Danton’s on President’s Day just to get this poblano soup. It’s full of lump crab.

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I’m trying harder to frequent places near Dairy Ashford and Memorial that are enduring the double disasters: road construction and hurricane destruction. Sushi Jin was the place for lunch today. The sashimi lunch special with soup and salad was great, but I kept thinking of soft shells and so the spider hand roll came along.

Doobs, are you still visiting weekly? It was actually full at lunch so I’m not too worried about it.

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Yep. Love those guys. Really good fish.

It sometimes gets very busy in the evenings, but we always find a seat at the sushi bar.

Really nice folks. Glad you enjoyed it.

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Do you have a favorite order at Sushi Jin?

Salmon sashimi, whatever sushi the chef recommends that day, and a roll that varies quite a bit. The Roll Of The Day is usually a pretty elaborate affair and always delicious and picture worthy.

I don’t care for really oily fish, (like blue mackerel), or ankimo, (monkfish liver), and I don’t like escolar.

Pretty much everything else is game. Chef knows my general preferences and his recommendations are always spot on.

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Speaking of sushi, there is a newish revolving sushi bar on Wilcrest @ Westheimer I’d like to try for the experience, although Yelp is full of stories as to the quality.

For sheer variety, I like the new Miyako on Washington with its vast menu and lunch specials. I was there last week and a couple of guys sat next to our table and proceeded to order everything from sea urchin to bottles of sake. I was fascinated with their order, especially since they didn’t even really look at the menu, regulars I guess. I so wanted to join them! Haha! The crab wontons there are the best in town, very crabby.

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Torta Quebradita - milanesa, huevo, quesillo (Oaxaca) - breaded thin beef steak, fried egg, shredded Oaxacan cheese plus lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado and pickled jalapeno on a toasted, crusty telera roll.

At Las Tortas Perronas, 1837 Bingle, just north of Long Point - 274 reviews and a five-star rating??? I was interested in trying it out and was in the area today.

I’ve been following the schnitzel cook-off on eGullet and milanesa is a form of snitzel (perhaps a forerunner??). I’ve never been fond of the versions of milanesa I’ve had at various restaurants (virtually every Latin American country seems to have a version) but I thought I’d try this one. The breading was almost non-existent. The roll was smaller making the sandwich less of a tummy-buster than most tortas I’ve had (I didn’t try to finish it, though). The meat was also tenderer than any other version of milanesa I’ve had and chopped into strips. The place is quite small, made for take-out rather than dining in and very clean and very inexpensive.

But 5 Stars??? Not this sandwich IMO. But I’d go again and try something else. As suggested, I wouldn’t have ordered this if I wasn’t particularly interested in the dish currently (bought some beef for milanesa recently; will be trying my hand at some at home).

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Hey, you were in my 'hood.

Pampa Grill and Market also near me has multiple milanesas and 4 and 1/2 Yelp stars. I’ve always wanted to try this place especially the skirt .

What type of meat did you buy?

http://pampagrillhouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/menu-to-be-updated-with-eat24-ilovepdf-compressed.pdf

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I’ve heard of Pampa before and it’s on a list of places to go somewhere around here :roll_eyes:. Didn’t remember noticing all those milanesas on the menu, though. And didn’t realize I was that close.

I bought a package labeled ‘beef for milanesa - thin sliced top round.’ I’ve noticed these in supermarkets before but they’re always ‘family packs.’ Well, not all that much meat, after all, since it’s so thinly sliced. I used some for some homemade pho, cooked one quickly in a skillet sans any breading, and tried a recipe I found on an Argentine site that pretty much was a disaster. I think there’s something left out in the discussion, namely letting the meat rest and the breading dry out after soaking in the egg wash. I not only didn’t get crunchy, I actually got soggy breading. Still have several portions of meat to try, though.

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Looks great to me!

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I had a craving for fried rice today. This does not happen very often :grin:. Nothing against fried rice but its just not something I would crave enough to go out that day to get very often. Like maybe never before.

I considered going to Peru Gourmet or Peru Cafe Express for Arroz Chaufa or Mama Yu for Nasi Goren Jawa but ultimately opted to stay very close to home and go to Bombay Express. This is one of two places along W. Bellfort just off 59/69 that specializes in Bombay Style Chinese food. i’ve been to the other one, Nukkad Dhaba, but apparently have never mentioned it here.

This is Chicken Shezwan (sic) Rice, spicy. Sliced scallions are added near the end; I think I found a bit of skin of a red chilli; the chicken is diced. No I did not order the family size portion!

This came with 4 chutneys/sauces. The one in the upper right is soy; lower right is pickled chillis; upper left may just be ketchup and lower left I’ve only gotten oiliness from so far, but I’ve had to stop tasting and try to staunch the flow of my sinuses :sweat_smile:.

I couldn’t resist the large veggie samosa (Keema beef samosas are about 1/4 that size). This had some nice heat; it was chunks of potatoes and I think I encountered a bit of a green chilli. The chutneys were mint and tamarind.

Very promising. What I’ve had from Nukkad Dhaba on the other side of the street has been very mildly seasoned and I like most Indian foods very spicy. This place used to be Salaam-Namaste and its sister vegetarian restaurant Sweet 'n Namkeen. The interior has been completely redone.

Looks like I’m going to be having fried rice for a midnight snack, breakfast and lunch tomorrow!

P.S. Apologies for the crap pictures I’ve been posting. I’m on my third digital camera and this one will not take decent pictures indoors. The flash either fails to fire in too low light situations or it washes everything out and I can’t find a setting to tone it down. i’m going to have to set up a table on my patio and take pictures out there in natural light.

Bombay Express, 10732 W. Bellfort Blvd., open 7 days a week, 7am to 2 am

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So I’m down to just one Frenchy’s near me, the last remaining one being one I gave up on several years ago because they turned out such greasy chicken. I gave them another try last week; it was worse than I remembered.

So, I tried a Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken near me today. It’s in a Citgo station and I’ve been curious for some time. The station has been there at least 15 years but there’s never been a business occupy the space set aside for an eatery that lasted more than a few months and the space has been vacant far more than it’s been in operation. This chicken place has been going for more than a year now; with a Popeye’s less than 150 yards away; they must be doing something right. Right? The Popeye’s always used to mess up my order and I haven’t been in years.

I ordered large so I could try a variety of things - the chicken/fish combo (leg and thigh, 2 pcs fish - I got 3 but 2 were smallish), fries, roll, and a cup of gumbo.

I had gone in without great expectations - these places get 2.5-3.5 stars online. I was encouraged at first by what I saw but everything was very bland. The fish was fried while I waited (tilapia); I also got fresh fries just because they were very busy. Everything needed salt and some heat to suit my taste.

The gumbo was pretty thin; it had shrimp, chicken and sausage but the most flavorful thing in it was a piece of okra.

Catfish Station does much better gumbo. And it looks like I’ll have to rely on a Church’s on Fondren for my fried chicken fixes. After getting my hopes up I’m disappointed.

Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken

The chain was started in Los Angeles in the 1970s by a man from Michigan. But the recipe is from Paul Prudhomme, so they say.

Uh huh.

Footnote: I was surprised to see there was a Halal sign in the window. But as I was leaving, a delivery person was wheeling in a 2-wheeler loaded with boxes labeled Wayne’s Farms Certified Halal Chicken.

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The Wifeacita and I went to the Louisiana Famous South Gessner location a couple of years ago and let’s say we never returned and leave it at that.

A Frenchy’s fix unfortunately requires a trip to the Scott Street location, not close to you or me.

They’re moving to a new close by location and according to Yelp as of January it’s not quite ready but maybe soon, maybe already.

Don’t forget some greens and creamy red beans and rice with good andouille sausage. Take that nasty, meatless Popeye’s beans.

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I did a spider roll comparison yesterday at Miyako. Miyako takes home the gold.

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El Real’s No. 7 lunch cheese enchiladas with onions. Lots of onions.

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Thanks for this pic :yum:.

It’s been too long since my friend who lives in 006 has invited me to join him for a lunch at El Real. No longer 50% off on Monday but still a good deal; I think he’s due for a phone call or a text this weekend!.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been. Pretty good! I still like the meat-less chile gravy at Lopez, but it’s a haul.

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I was looking for a ramen joint close to me and came across Kuen Noodle House, 9140-A Bellaire, in the Welcome Center (east end of Chinatown; look for the sign for the HPD storefront, it’s the easiest sign to spot along there). Its back in the back corner, right next to Afandim Uyghur Restaurant.

I think I remember reading about this some time before, a place that pulls it’s own noodles and lets you watch. Or maybe it was this article I remembered:

Alas, I didn’t order one of the dishes that required the services of the robot.

I had seen the pics online of the Japanese Style Miso Ramen Soup with Roast Pork and it was calling my name. It’s not listed on any of the laminated menus users have posted online but there was a picture in the window and the in-house menu is actually a multi-fold booklet with lots of pictures.

A much smaller bowl than a typical bowl of pho but very filling (lots of noodles); I couldn’t finish it, although mostly what I had left was broth. Note to self (and others) - the broth in the bottom of the bowl is awesome).

There’s a condiment tray with salt, ground white pepper, chile oil and soy sauce. I used some of each except the salt, but not until I was more than half through, just in case I ruined it :roll_eyes:.

One of the cooks in the back came out to pull the noodles in front of the window. It took him all of about a minute to pull the noodles for my soup and then toss them in a big vat of boiling water. If you were there when the place was busy, you’d probably see a pretty continuous show. Sit on the right side of the restaurant.

My lips, tongue and the roof of my mouth got scalded by the noodles (not the broth).

The place wasn’t crowded at 2 in the afternoon; my server was very pleasant but hardly said more than 2 words. I think this is going to a favorite place for me in Chinatown.

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